What You Need to Know about Chimney Flue and Why It’s Needed

What You Need to Know about Chimney Flue and Why It’s Needed

Your chimney is connected to your fireplace. It acts as a conduit for smoke and other contaminants so they can be released out of your home.

Any gas or wood-burning fireplace has its own chimney flue. A chimney flue is a vertical passage where the smoke, debris, and contaminants (produced by the fire you started in the firebox) escape into the chimney and out of your house.

In this article, we’ll discuss why chimney flues are vital components of both the chimney and the fireplace safety and maintenance.

Why Chimney Flues Are Essential

Here are some of the reasons why chimney flues are essential to your chimney and fireplace.

1. Chimney Flues Prevent Chimney Fire

First, it’s because they prevent combustion from happening in your home and in any surrounding area. That unrecognised part of your fireplace can protect you and your family from sudden combustion while starting a fire.

When chimney flues are unlined, they will let smoke and other contaminants escape through the mortar and bricks. This will allow heat and smoke to turn into a chimney fire, passing through any combustible materials in your homes, such as drywall and wood studs, that can eventually cause a fire.

That’s why chimney flue liners are made up of solid and seamless surfaces that prevent the smoke in the flue and go directly out of the chimney.

What Is a Chimney Fire

As mentioned earlier, when chimney flues are unlined, it can cause smoke and heat to escape sideways and into the bricks and mortar. Because of this, it can create combustion that causes chimney fire.

And chimney fire is not something that anyone should take lightly. It’s a terrifying scenario that is hard to extinguish and handle.

When the chimney fire starts, it’ll begin with a sort of gunshots popping and can immediately progress into deep rumbling, similar to the sound of a running freight train. Because of this, your flue may break, which permits the fire to enter inside your home.

If this happens (we really hope not), the fire department recommends that you water down into the house from the top of your chimney so you can properly put off the fire, but unfortunately, it will result in flooding inside the house.

1. Chimney Flues Allow the Passage of Gasses and Smoke

Chimney flues are created to prevent smoke and any gasses from going into the bricks and mortar. Flues are created smooth to help direct the smoke upward and outside your chimney faster.

1. Chimney Flues Protect Your Chimney Materials

When you start a fire in your firebox, it also produces contaminants that are usually carried by smoke. Through steel and clay flues, they can protect the surrounding mortar and bricks from any acid, creosote, and other contaminants.

Conclusion

Chimney flues are important parts of your chimney and fireplace as they give passage to smoke and other contaminants out of the house. They help prevent chimney fires that can ultimately damage your home and threaten your family’s lives.

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